Was it a shock when Eternals flopped? Director Chloe Zhao breaks her silence on the critical backlash against her debut film in the MCU pantheon.
Eternals is one of the oddest cases in the MCU, if not the superhero fandom as a whole. At a time where audiences were demanding something new from their franchise films, Marvel took a major swing: an all-star cast, an Oscar-winning director in Chloe Zhao, and a story with a scale as large as time. Though despite all of that, the film ended up failing to connect with audiences.
Of course, as is with any film, not everyone hates Eternals. Some consider it a hidden gem of the MCU with a some very notable flaws. And it seems as though that sentiment is at least somewhat shared by Chloe Zhao. When asked about how she felt to the critical backlash against the film, the director admitted that the response was rather unexpected.
“I think it’s like when you have a child. You do whatever you can to raise them, and you probably made mistakes along the way, [things] that you wish you’d done better,” Zhao told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent profile. “I’m speaking for the last two films I had that came out the same time [Nomadland and Eternals] — then you send them out into the world, and the world will have very unexpected reactions towards them that you have no control of.”
The Negative Reception Of Eternals
Receiving massive backlash against any piece of art is hard to deal with, even more so when it seems to come out of nowhere. Luckily, despite having taken a four year break since directing her MCU film, it seems as though Chloe Zhao is taking the situation in stride. The director remarks that the imperfections of any film are a reflection of their creator, and that’s something one has to accept.
“You have to learn to love the imperfection of your children, because that is loving the imperfection in yourself. And that wasn’t an easy process for me last time.”
While it’s not likely that Chloe Zhao will return to the MCU anytime soon following the backlash to Eternals, she continues to have fruitful work as a director outside of the franchise. She’s currently tapped to helm the Buffy the Vampire Slayer relaunch, and her latest film Hamnet is due out later this year in November.
Eternals is now streaming on Disney Plus. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Eternals franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
